Colossians Chapter 3 Verses 15-17

Col. 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” 

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body;” The word peace is found exactly 111 times in the New Testament. Peace is the opposite of turmoil or trouble or war.  The peace to which Paul references in this passage comes from God.  We are to let this God given peace rule in our hearts.  This peace begins to rule in our hearts when we learn that God has made us to be at peace with him: Col. 1:20 “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” 

          The scriptures have a lot to say about peace through our Lord Jesus Christ: 

          1.  John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

          2.  John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

          3.  Rom. 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

          4.  Eph. 2:14 “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;”

          5.  Phil. 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

          6.  Col. 1:20 “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

          Moreover, we have peace through the preaching and belief of the gospel and obedience to the word of God:

          1.  Rom. 10:15 “And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

          2.  Rom. 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

          3.  Rom. 14:19 “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”

          4.  Rom. 15:13 “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

          5.  2 Cor. 13:11 “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”

          6.  Eph. 2:17 “And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.”

          7.  Eph. 6:15 “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” 

Next, Paul instructs the brethren in Colosse “and be ye thankful.”  There are many things that we need to be thankful for.  In the context we should be especially thankful for the peace that God has given us through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the preaching of the gospel. 

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.”  Notice that the word of Christ is to dwell in us.  How can it dwell in us if we do not read it?  Moreover, we must do more than just read it if it is to dwell in us richly.  We will have to study it.  We read to get knowledge.  We study to get understanding.  We meditate on it to get wisdom, i.e., the ability to apply our knowledge and understanding to the circumstances, trials, and problems of life.  These principles are taught to us in the scriptures: 

          1.  2 Tim. 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

          2.  1 Tim. 4:13 “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”

          3.  1 Tim. 4:15 “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.”   

“Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”  Singing is one of the most powerful tools for teaching.  The things we sing are more likely to remain in our memory longer than the things we hear or read, unless continually reinforced.  When we learn a psalm or hymn or spiritual song these things will be strongly placed in our memory banks and will sometimes come to our minds when we have situations or problems or trials in our lives.  Singing serves a dual purpose: singing the songs teaches us and through singing we are giving praise unto the Lord to whom our songs are chiefly directed.  This principle is reinforced in Eph. 5:19 “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” Notice, we are to make melody in our hearts and not on a musical instrument.  The purpose of congregational church singing is not to entertain ourselves, but to sing praises unto the Lord.  While musical instruments may tickle our earthly pleasure, they in no way are capable of giving praise to God, which should be our chief desire in singing.   

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”  If we would put this statement to practice it would be a great deterrent to ungodliness in our lives.  For instance it would be hard to deceive others in the name of the Lord Jesus or to give thanks to God and the Father by him.  When we followed the principle stated then our behavior will be according to the teaching of God’s word and we will be giving thanks to God for his sustaining blessings in our lives.